My Little Pony: College dreams (and nightmares)
by I'maChair5050
Summary: Dusk Shredder, a mild mannered, intelligent wallflower, begins his new life in college, expecting things to be easy. However, he finds himself struggling to balance studies, free time, band practice and a part-time job. And that's before his unexpected relationship with the resident party animal. All characters are human version of MLP characters (Not based on Equestria girls)
1. Welcome to College

**Chapter 1: Welcome to College**

As the sun shone over the Equestrian Academic College, three buses pulled up outside the front gates.

As the doors on the buses opened, hundreds of young students came pouring out. Many were seniors, many more were freshmen.

Amongst those about to start freshman year was a young male with short jet black hair, piercing blue eyes and light skin.

He proudly wore denim jeans, chunky black trainers and a black Metallica T-Shirt.

He wheeled a large case behind him and carried another case, shaped like a guitar, over his shoulder.

His name was Dusk Shredder.

Ever since he'd first started his educational journey at age 4, his peers knew almost immediately that he was destined for greatness, solely because he always completed his schoolwork to the best of his ability. Usually at lightning speed, as well.

His grades certainly showed this, with him usually getting at least a B in his work.

Aside from his great grades, he also had taken up various different instruments in the past, ranging from violin to trumpet. However, he was dissatisfied by all of the instruments he tried. That is, however, until he started getting in to rock music. Since then, he acquired his own electric guitar. A legendary Fender Stratocaster. It was custom painted in jet black, with a red stripe running down one side. Next to it, written in red, was the name he lovingly gave his guitar: Messorem (Latin for "Reaper").

He was also passionate about various other things, like video games and racing.

He'd decided to come to EAC to try and get a few diplomas, mainly in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, media studies, advanced technology and maths.

Needless to say, this kid was very smart.

However, despite all his skill and talent, there was one major flaw with him: he was a bit of a social wallflower. No matter how hard he tried, he always struggled to socialise with anyone. Every time he'd tried, he feared that he would say something that would make them think he was a weirdo, so he would usually end up clamming up again.

The fact that he had OCD clearly didn't help his situation either.

However, he still found it easy to socialise with people who shared the same interests with him.

As he was stepping off the bus, he was chatting to another guy by the name of Flash Sentry, a fellow rocker.

"Okay, if you could create your own four person rock band with famous rockstars, dead or alive, who would you choose?" Dusk asked him.

Flash pondered for moment as he stepped off the bus.

"I'd have Freddie Mercury on vocals, Jimmy Page on guitar, Cliff Burton on bass and Keith Moon on drums" he replied.

"As for me, I'd have Robert Plant on vocals, Eddie Van Halen on guitar, Lemmy Kilmister on bass and probably Dave Grohl on drums". Dusk said.

"I had a feeling you'd choose Van Halen."

"Same way I knew you'd choose Mercury on vocals. Although, to be honest, I thought you'd just have the complete Queen line-up as your band".

"Well, I like Queen. Lots of people like Queen. What's wrong with liking Queen?"

"Nothing. They're absolutely brilliant."

The students soon found themselves standing outside the front doors to the EAC.

In front of them, a woman stepped on to a waiting box, allowing her to properly address the students.

She was soon joined by another, dark haired woman, standing to her left.

"Greetings, one and all. Welcome to the Equestrian Academic College. I am President Celestia. I'm head of this establishment. The woman on my left is Vice-President Luna. Firstly, to all freshmen, welcome and to all seniors, welcome back. To all seniors, you have indeed delighted the staff. You have shined brightly in your previous years and I'm expecting more outstanding work from all of you. To the freshmen, you have come here to enrich both your lives and your futures at this prestigious academy and for that, I thank you. Finally, to all of you, I say this. I wish you good luck and good fortunes for this year. I hope you all have a sensational year with us. Make sure you all get a good night's sleep and I'll be looking forwards to the rest of the year. Freshman orienteering begins at 9:30 tomorrow morning in the auditorium, so make sure you're there. Oh, and don't forget to get your dorm keys from reception. That is all".

With that, the large group of students entered the main building and walked up to reception.

Once they reached the desk, Dusk and Flash looked at the lists in front of them, trying to find their designated rooms.

As much as Dusk and Flash got along, they both wanted to have their own private dormitories because they were both sure that they'd probably end up murdering their roommates if they had any. In fact, they'd specifically asked to not have any roommates.

As they eventually found their names on the lists, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

_Flash Sentry - Dorm 104_

_Dusk Shredder - Dorm 210_

The duo then grabbed their keys and headed to their dorms.

"I tell you what, I can't wait to unload this damn stuff" Dusk said to Flash.

"I just want to have a nice long sleep" Flash replied.

They made their way into the main student house and began climbing the stairs, looking for their rooms.

this was easier said than done with the heavy gear they were carrying.

However, as they reached the second floor, they noticed a group of six girls ahead of them.

One of them was trying to carry far too many cases up the stairs.

"Twilight, darling, I told you it would be a bad idea taking all of those cases". One of her friends said to the girl.

"But Rarity, I've got so much I need to read" the girl replied.

But then, almost inevitably, the girl ended up leaning back a bit too far trying to carry the cases, causing her to fall backwards onto three of her friends, followed by her cases.

Flash and Dusk decided to go over and help.

"Hey, are you girls alright?" Asked Flash as he helped one of them up.

"Yeah. Fine thanks" the girl replied. "I got a bit over enthusiastic with my packing and I ended up bringing more stuff than I needed".

"I can see that" Dusk added as he helped up the others. "Want a hand with the bags?"

"Oh, uh, yes please. That would be great".

The two boys then picked up a few of the cases, whilst the girls picked up the rest.

What they'd failed to mention was that their rooms were up another 3 floors.

After a few minutes of hauling what felt like 5 million tonnes of bags up the stairs, they reached the girls rooms, 299 and 300.

"Well, thanks for the help you guys" one of the girls said as they opened the room doors.

"Don't mention it" Wheezed Dusk as he set the bags down.

"Oh, how silly of me. I forgot to introduce myself" the girl said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends. Applejack..."

"Howdy".

"..Rainbow Dash..."

"Hey"

"...Pinkie Pie..."

"HI!"

"...Fluttershy..."

"Um...Hello".

"...and Rarity"

"Greetings".

"I'm Dusk Shredder" Dusk replied, shaking their hands. "This is my buddy, Flash Sentry".

"Nice to meet you" Flash added, also shaking their hands.

"Likewise" Twilight replied.

"Anyway, Flash and I had better be going. We've got a lot of stuff to unload" Dusk said to the six girls. "Bye".

"Bye" The girls replied before heading in to their dorms.

Flash and Dusk then turned around and headed back down the stairs to their dorms.

"So...what do you make of that?" Dusk asked.

"I don't know about you, but those six seem a bit...peculiar. In a good way, though".

"Speaking of peculiar, I believe I saw you go a bit red when you saw Twilight".

"WHAT?! I did not!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever".

"Besides, I believe I saw you eyeing up her friends".

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were!"

"...Okay fine. Maybe I did. They are quite pretty, though".

"I'll give you that".

"All I can say is that if there are other girls like this on campus, this place ROCKS!"

Dusk then went up to his door and put the key into the lock.

"See you around, Flash".

"See you, Dusk".

As Flash headed off down another flight of stairs, Dusk opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind him.

The dorm he would be staying in was quite spacious. It had comfy double bed, a medium-sized TV, a small refrigerator, a closet for his stuff, a desk and a nice clean toilet and shower.

Dusk then simply put his bags next to the bed and flopped down on top of it.

He felt his muscles relaxing.

However, a strange feeling then arrived with him, causing him to have the sudden urge to have a quick jam session on his guitar.

With that, he took Messorem out of its bag, took his amp out of the larger bag, plugged the amp into the wall, plugged the guitar into the amp and turned them both on, also opening the window to let some air in.

But as he sat down on his bed, he struggled to think of what to play.

He soon thought of something.

He began playing "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, starting off with that all-too familiar soft solo at the beginning.

Almost instantly, he began to feel at ease.

Just then, he also randomly decided to sing along as well.

_"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold"_

_"And she's buying the stairway to heaven"_

_"When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed"_

_"With a word she can get what she came for"_

_"oooooooh"_

_"oooooooh"_

_"And she's buying the stairway to heaven"_

_"There's a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure"_

_"'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings"_

_"In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings"_

_"Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven"_

What Dusk had failed to note was that the sounds of him and his guitar were drifting out of the window, allowing other people to hear him.

Not that he minded that.

_"Ooh, it makes me wonder"_

_"Ooh, makes me wonder"_

He quickly stopped playing to bring out his laptop, boot it out, turn its volume up high and took it up to where he was, so that there was more than just him playing before continuing.

_"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west"_

_"and my spirit is crying for leaving"_

_"In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees"_

_"and the voices of those who stand looking"_

_"Ooh, it makes me wonder"_

_"Ooh, really makes me wonder"_

_"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune"_

_"Then the piper will lead us to reason"_

_"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long"_

_"And the forests will echo with laughter"_

_"Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, ooh"_

The song began to pick up a little bit

_"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now"_

_"It's just a spring clean for the May queen"_

_"Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run"_

_"There's still time to change the road you're on"_

_"And it makes me wonder"_

_"Ooh, oh, oh, oh"_

At this point various students were leaning out of their windows to hear where the music was coming from.

Even Twilight and here friends were looking out of their windows.

"Is that Dusk?" Asked Twilight.

"It certainly sounds like it" replied Rainbow Dash.

"HE SOUNDS SUPER AWESOME!" Yelled Pinkie Pie.

After that, they decided to just keep listening.

"_Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know"_

_"The piper's calling you to join him"_

_"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know"_

_"Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?"_

It was at this point that the song finally picked up into it's short bridge and then into it's iconic guitar solo.

As he played the solo, Dusk felt like he was no longer playing by himself in his College room. He felt like he was playing onstage with Led Zeppelin to half a million people.

_"And as we wind on down the road"_

_"Our shadows taller than our soul"_

_"There walks a lady we all know"_

_"Who shines white light and wants to show"_

_"How everything still turns to gold"_

_"And if you listen very hard"_

_"The tune will come to you at last"_

_"When all are one and one is all, yeah!"_

_"To be a rock and not to roll"_

As he wound down from his solo, he released one last, long note from his guitar before singing the final words.

_"and she's buying the stairway to heaven..."_

As he finished, loud cheers came up from people in other rooms who had been listening in on his one man concert.

Dusk then flopped back down on his bed, happily clucking Messorem

"This is going to be great!" He thought to himself.


	2. Orienteering

**Chapter 2: Orienteering**

Dusk awoke the next morning feeling refreshed.

After his one man rock concert the day before, he'd fallen asleep dreaming what could've been one of the craziest things ever: him standing at the top of Mount Everest, playing "Enter Sandman" alongside Metallica.

Their combined sound had even caused an avalanche to occur on the mountain below them when they'd reached the guitar solo.

"Best. Dream. ever" Dusk thought to himself as he slowly clambered out of bed.

Still half asleep, he pulled a cereal bar out of his bag, unwrapped it and ate it as his breakfast.

After that, he got himself washed and dressed, this time into a pair of baggy black jeans and a Dragonforce T-Shirt.

He then spent the next half an hour plugging the Xbox 360 that he'd brought with him into his TV and playing Need For Speed: Most Wanted.

Once he'd finished playing, he looked at the watch on his wrist.

9:28am

He then remembered what Principal Celestia had said to the students upon their arrival the day before.

"Freshman orienteering beging at 9:30 tomorrow morning in the auditorium".

This was followed by a yell of "SHIT!" from Dusk.

Rapidly, he switched off his Xbox and his TV, pulled on his trainers, ran out of his dorm, locked the door behind him and began running faster than his legs had carried him down the various flights of stairs and off towards the main college building.

As he ran through the front doors, he noticed the freshman students filing in to the auditorium.

Dusk gave a sigh of relief as he joined the back of the line and followed them in to the auditorium.

As he went to find an empty seat, he noticed Flash Sentry in one of the rows near the back, motioning him to sit in the empty seat next to him.

"Morning Jimmy" Flash whispered to him as Dusk took the seat.

"Jimmy?" Dusk asked, before remembering his one man Led Zeppelin concert the other day. "Oh. Right. I get it now".

Dusk peered down to the rows in front to see if he could recognise anyone.

He noticed Twilight and her friends sitting about three rows in front of them.

Pinkie Pie then turned around to look at the rows behind her and noticed Dusk and Flash, happily waving at them with a big grin on her face.

Flash and Dusk returned the wave.

At the front of the auditorium, Vice Principal Luna entered through one of doors and stood facing the students.

"Good morning, students. As you may remember, I am Vice Principal Luna. I will be taking your freshman orienteering today. Now, most of you may think that orienteering at this college will be the same as every other college: I give you guys a long talk and then take you off for a tour round campus with the help of a senior student. However, that's not how we do things here. We've always preferred to just point our new students in the right direction as quickly as possible and let them take themselves around. Now then, we've brought in some senior students to help out with the orienteering today. They should all be handing out an orienteering guide, a student ID card and a personal timetable to each and every one of you. I'll give you a couple of minutes to look over each item.

As Dusk looked at the picture on his ID card, he shuddered.

"God, I look half dead in this picture" he thought to himself.

He then looked over his timetable.

In comparison to Flash's, his timetable was notably more packed.

_Monday_

_Astronomy: 10am-12pm (Science Lab 2)  
Maths: 1:30pm-3pm (Maths Room 8)_

_Tuesday_

_Chemistry: 10am-11:30am (Science Lab 3)  
Biology: 12:45pm-3:30pm (Science Lab 1)_

_Wednesday_

_Media Studies: 11am-3:30pm (Movie Room)_

_Thursday_

_Physics: 10:45am-12:15pm (Science Lab 4)  
Advanced Technology: 1pm-3:15pm (Tech Lab 1)_

_Friday_

_Maths: 10:15am-12:15pm (Maths Room 3)  
Chemistry: 1:30pm-3:15pm (Science Lab 5)_

_No lessons on weekends._

"Dude! You have four hours Media Studies?!" Whispered Flash.

"Yes. That's what I asked for".

"That's insane. In fact, your whole timetable is insane. How are you going to fit everything in so neatly?"

"I will somehow. Just watch".

"Okay, so you should've all had a good look over your stuff. If not, you can have a good look once orienteering is over. So, erm, yeah. That's pretty much all that I need to say, so you may now go and give yourselves a tour around the premises if you wish. Although, please keep in mind that the seniors will have lessons going on, so please don't disturb them. Also, if you have any concerns, feel free to talk to myself or any of the seniors. Oh, and between 1:30 and 3:15, we're allowing students to sign up to any of the College's societies or even create your own. This will be on the football pitch. Okay, students dismissed!"

The students then left the room and gave themselves a good tour around.

Flash and Dusk first decided to check out the science and tech labs, seeing as they both did some form of technology.

Needless to say, they were a whole new level of advanced, especially in comparison to their high schools. In fact, they looked like something out of a Science-Fiction movie.

They gave the maths room a quick lookover, as they looked just like your stereotypical maths rooms, with formulas pasted on the walls.

Finally, they stopped by the movie room. This was particularly impressive, seeing as the screen was roughly the same size as one in an IMAX theatre. It was that big.

"Okay. I am thoroughly impressed" Dusk said to Flash as they left the room.

"I know right. This place blows my high school clean out of the water"

"I think you'll find it blows every high school out of the water"

"My point exactly!"

However, the duo were so wrapped up in their conversation, they forgot to look ahead of them and ended up bumping into Twilight and her friends. Again.

"We've really got to stop bumping in to each other like this" Flash said to Twilight.

"Yeah. I agree" She replied. "So anyway, how are you two finding things here so far?"

"Fine thanks. Although, I'm a bit concerned about Dusk's timetable. His is almost completely full".

"It can't be that bad. Let us see" Fluttershy piped up.

Dusk then pulled out his timetable and showed it to the girls.

"Sweet feathery Christ!" yelled out Rainbow Dash "Not even Twilight has chosen that many subjects".

"How in tarnation are y'all gonna' keep track of everythin'?" Asked Applejack.

"Oh I'll find a way" Dusk replied confidently. "There's always a way. Now then, we hate to break off the conversation like this, but Flash and I have to go and see which societies we can sign up to".

"How about we come with you. There might be societies we could all want to sign up to".

"Okay then".

The group of eight then began to head outside.

"Knowing you, Twilight, you'll probably sign up to the book club".

"You're one to talk, Rainbow. You'll probably sign up to some sort of sports society".

"True".

"Knowing Dusk and I, we'll probably sign up to some sort of society for rockers and form a band out of that".

"Ooh! That reminds me of that super duper looper time yesterday when we were listening to you playing on your guitar!"

"Ah yes! Admittedly, I've never been big in the rock department, but your guitar work was positively divine, darling".

"Definitely. I was actually playing my air guitar alongside!"

"Ooh! Ooh! So was I!"

Pinkie then did an imitation air guitar solo, making noises as she did it.

Dusk just shook his head, chuckling.

As the group made it out onto the pitch, they said their goodbyes before heading off in separate directions.

Needless to say, Dusk and Flash were spoilt for choice, as there were societies for gamers, societies for film appreciation, societies for pretty much everything.

Eventually, tucked away in a corner of the field, they found the stand for the EAC's rocker/metalhead society.

Immediately, the two approached the guy sitting at the desk, a skinny guy with long brown hair, tiny sunglasses and lots of facial hair.

"Hey. Would you two dudes like to sign up to our society?" Asked the guy in a very much chilled out tone.

"Gladly" The duo replied as they wrote their names down on the clipboard in front of them.

"Awesome, man!" The guy said, shaking their hands. "The name's Neck Slider. Welcome to the society. First meeting is on Sunday. About 4:30. See you there"

"yeah, see you there". Dusk replied as he and Flash headed off back to their dorms, chatting to each other.

"So what are you going to do now? I mean, lessons don't start until next week, so what are you going to do until then".

"I don't know. I know I'm going to need to find a part-time job to help pay the rent, but other than that, I guess I'll just stay in my place and play videogames".

"I second that. Anyway, see you!" Flash called out as he disappeared back into his room.

"Yeah! See you!" Dusk replied.

As he walked back up to his room, Dusk realised something: apart from Flash and those six girls, none of the other students had been talking about his one man concert the other day.

Maybe they didn't know it was him who did it.

Maybe they'd forgotten.

Maybe they just didn't care.

Dusk sighed to himself. He wanted to make a name for himself this year, but he knew he was going to have a hard time.

"I love a challenge" He thought to himself.


	3. A Band Comes Together

**Chapter 3: A band comes together**

As Sunday came round, Dusk had eagerly been awaiting his first meeting with the EAC's rocker/metalhead society.

He was fully aware that a society meeting would be the first proper stepping stone to allow him to become a more sociable person. It would also allow him and Flash to start setting up the band they'd been promising themselves to set up. All they really needed to get a band going were an able bassist and drummer, as either Dusk or Flash could also be the vocalist.

They would also need to get extra bits of equipment as well, like microphones and extra PA systems.

That being said, Dusk remained optimistic that he and Flash would be able to find the right people to fit the bill. In fact, he was already trying to come up with names for the band.

He was torn between the names "White Dawn", "Children of Enoch" and "The Insurmountable Ones".

"Oh well" he thought to himself. "Perhaps we can decide something once the band is formed.

As 4:30 drew near, Dusk slung his guitar case over his shoulder, left his room and made his way to the society meeting, meeting up with Flash on the way, who had his own guitar slung over his shoulder.

"You know what we need to do whilst we're there, right?" Dusk asked Flash.

"I know. We need to find a bassist and a drummer. Good ones as well". He replied.

"Not just that, we'll also need to come up with a band name and get the right equipment as well".

"We can work on that when the time comes, but right now we need to focus on completing our line up".

"Too right, mate"

The duo soon arrived at the door to the second music room, where the society meeting was being held.

At the door, Neck Slider was waiting for them.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it today" he said in the chilled out, happy way he always did, shaking their hands.

"That's okay, mate". Flash replied. "We'll obviously be thankful to get to socialise with people who share similar tastes as ourselves, but the main thing we accomplish today is to find an able bassist and a drummer, so Dusk and I can form a band".

"Ah. A band. Cool, bro. Well, I do know that there are a couple of people who've signed up who play drums and bass. Perhaps they'll want to join".

"Great. Thanks".

The two entered the room to find many different faces, sitting around and talking about rock and metal music in general. Most of the people there were males, often with facial hair. Some with band T-shirts.

"I'm finally with my people" Dusk thought to himself.

He then turned to Flash.

"Okay, no getting out of here until we find a bassist and a drummer, even if it takes all night".

"Got it".

Fortunately for them, they didn't have to look far. No sooner they began to look, they were approached by a tall, skinny gentleman with long brown hair, grey eyes, and a thin moustache and beard growing. He was wearing dark jeans with rips and a sleeveless Black T-Shirt. He also had a guitar case slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear you two talking to Neck Slider just now and hearing you two saying you were looking for a bassist and a drummer, right?" he said in a deep tone of voice.

"Well, yeah".

"Well, is there any chance me and my friend can join?"

"Do you play bass?"

"Yes. My friend plays drums."

"Any previous experience in a band?"

"Yes. We were in a band back in high school. At the time, the bad was the most popular one in our school. However, we actually found out the only reason that people turned up to our shows was solely to see the two of us, with me actually acting as lead singer for the band. Our lead and rhythm guitarists were positively..."

"Shit?"

"Yes"

"What kind of music do you play?"

"Anything rock or metal".

Dusk looked at Flash.

"Sounds good to me".

"Same here".

They held out their hands.

"Welcome aboard. I'm Dusk, this is Flash".

"Sweet. Thanks guys. The name's Plectrum." he replied, shaking their hands. "I guess I'd better introduce you to my friend".

He motioned to another guy of a similar height, but with huge muscly arms and short, spikey hair.

"Dusk, Flash, this is my friend Kick. Kick, these are Dusk and Flash, they want us to be in a band with them".

Kick shook hands with the two.

"Nice to meet you guys".

"Alright then, we have our potential band members. All we need now is equipment and a name"

"The name we can focus on later, but Plectrum and I actually have a few bits of equipment with us".

"Amps?"

"Yes"

"Mics?"

"Yes"

"Well that's convenient".

"Are you complaining?"

"Hell no".

"Alright then, when can we get down to playing together?"

"Well, it shouldn't take us that much time to get our equipment set up, my drums are stored in the storage rooms here and you guys all have your guitars with you, so how about tonight after everyone's left the meeting".

The duo thought about this for a moment.

"Sounds good to us" replied Flash.

"Alrighty then".

The four then went off to socialise with their people.

* * *

When it was time for the society meeting to disband, the four guys stayed behind.

"Hey, some of us are heading off to grab a few hold ones" Neck called to them. "Want to come with?"

"No thanks, mate" Dusk replied. "The others and I are going to be practising together".

"Okay, see you guys around".

"Yeah. See you!"

It took a while for the group get all of the equipment set up, but eventually, everything was ready.

All they needed to do now was decide which song to play.

"I was thinking something hard and heavy".

"Skillet?"

"Not quite what I had in mind. How about Papa Roach?"

"Alright then. Which song where you thinking?"

"Not Listening. Know that one?"

"Yeah, Kick and I learnt it back in the period with our last band".

"Okay then."

Dusk turned to Flash.

"You want to be vocalist this time?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay then. In that case, I'm lead guitarist."

Dusk, Flash and Plectrum took a brief moment to tune in their guitars.

"Okay...ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

Dusk began to blast out the intro on his guitar.

As Flash, Plectrum and Kick joined in, Flash stepped up to the mike.

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I learn, the more I ignore"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I learn, the more I ignore"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore, no"._

_"'Cause you gotta be bigger"_

_"And be faster"_

_"And be stronger"_

_"If your gonna survive any longer"_

_"In this lifetime, it better be the right time"_

_"'Cause the first time might be your last time"_

_"Am I a failure if I've got nothing to lose?"_

_"No, I'm not a failure, I've got something to prove"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I learn, the more I ignore"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I can, the more I ignore"_

_"The more I ignore"_

Dusk had never felt better in his life. Here he was, practising with a potential band and they were on fire!

If this was their first practice together, then Dusk wondered what they'd sound like around Christmas.

"We'd probably sound epic" Dusk thought to himself as he continued to belt out music from Messorem.

Flash continued singing.

_"'Cause I've lost my innocence a__nd I'm a stranger, __a life changer"_

_"I'm a man that's not afraid of danger"_

_"I walk my own path and blaze my own trail"_

_"Because I'm not afraid to derail"._

_"I won't get in line or be a middle man"_

_"So fuck you, I'll make my own plan"_

_"And I got respect and I don't neglect"_

_"The people that I really care to protect"_

_"Am I a failure if I've got nothing to lose"_

_"No, I'm nor a failure, I've got something to prove"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I learn, the more I ignore"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I can, the more I ignore"_

_"I told you before, I won't listen no more"_

_"I told you before, lets settle the score"_

_"I told you before, I won't listen no more"_

_"I told you before, LETS SETTLE THE SCOOOOOOOOORRRRE!"_

Almost by chance, Twilight and her friends were walking out of the library, which just so happened to be nearby, with Twilight carrying a whole stack of books.

"That was so boring" groaned Rainbow Dash.

"Oh I disagree, my dear. Did you see how many fashion books were there?" Rarity countered.

"Ah hate to ask, Twi, but why exactly have y'all gotten those books?" Asked Applejack.

"Yeah. The college year doesn't begin until tomorrow" added pinkie.

"Well, no specific reason other than to get a head start on everybody else". Twilight responded. "That way, I'll end up having more time with which to spend..."

She was cut off as the girls heard the sound of Flash's scream echoing towards them, followed by the sounds of guitars and drums.

"Sounds like someone's having a metal concert" Rainbow said to the others.

The group listened in on the music.

"It sounds pretty good" she added.

"Let's go have a look" Twilight said to her friends.

The six girls then headed off in the direction of the music.

Soon, they followed the sound to one of the music rooms. As they peered in, they found Dusk, Flash, Plectrum and Kick all playing heavy metal, simultaneously headbanging.

They'd reached them just in time for the bridge.

"_If not me, then who?"_

_"If not now, then when?"_

_"If not me, then who?"_

_"If not now, then when?"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I learn, the more I ignore"_

_"I'm not listening, not anymore"_

_"The more I can, the more I ignore"_

_"I told you before, I won't listen no more"_

_"I told you before, lets settle the score"_

_"I told you before, I won't listen no more"_

_"I told you before, LETS SETTLE THE SCOOOOOOOOORRRRE!"_

The girls were blown away by the sheer power and volume of it all. And they actually kind of liked it. Particularly Pinkie, who loved their energy.

The group reached the ending of the song.

_"SHUT IT UP, WORK IT OUT!"_

_"BLOW IT UP, SET IT OFF!"_

_"FUCK IT UP, CHUCK IT OUT!"_

_PUT IT UP, BLOW IT UP RIGHT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!"_

As the band released the final note of the song, the group outside the door had increased from six to eleven, as others had heard the sound of the band.

"Holy shit, that was amazing!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash quietly.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS AMAZING!" Dusk yelled out, echoing Dash's words and high fiving the other guys.

"I guess this makes us a band then" replied Plectrum happily.

"Too right. All we need to do now is think of a name. Something epic".

They pondered for a moment.

"I think I've got something" Kick told them. "It's part hilarious, but part amazing".

"Lets hear it"

Kick paused dramatically before answering.

"Tornado Lightning Poptart"

There was silence for a moment.

"Tornado Lightning Poptart?"

"Why not? It's a silly name, but we don't need to take ourselves seriously, do we? We're not like a multi million dollar rock band or anything. We're just a bunch of goofballs having a good time"

The others thought about this for a moment.

"I can live with that. Besides, a tornado lightning poptart does sound hilariously awesome".

"Can't argue with that logic".

"Me neither".

"Alright then, Tornado Lightning Poptart it is."

The four shook on this.

"So now what do we do?"

"How about we continue playing?"

"How long is it until curfew?"

"About four hours"

"Okay then, let's do that. Which song should we play?"

"How about some Sum 41 songs?"

"Fat Lip?"

"Alright then. I call vocals this time".

As they got back to their spots, Dusk, Flash and Plectrum quickly tuned their guitar to the appropriate levels.

Just as they were about to start, Dusk looked over at the door and spotted Pinkie Pie peering through the glass.

He smiled and winked at her.

He could've sworn he saw her blushing at this.

His focus soon returned to the band.

"Okay... ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

With that, Tornado Lightning Poptart played into the night.


	4. Possible Feels?

**Chapter 4: Possible Feels?**

Despite being only three weeks into the college year, Dusk had almost immediately settled into the groove of his studies. He was already working hard on his studies and well on course (at this stage, at least) to earn his degrees and graduate at the end of his senior year. Not just that, he'd slowly begun to fulfil his goal of being a more sociable person. He'd been able to make a few friends in his classes, plus Plectrum and Kick had been able to introduce both him and Flash Sentry to new people. They would usually end up playing a few games of Halo together, eating pizza and talking about random stuff.

He'd also been able to find a part time job at the internet café just across the road.

There was one meeting, however, he had been looking forwards to more than most. At the end of every three weeks, some students from his Media Studies would organise a meet up in the movie room for other students in the classes and their friends where they would (you guessed it) watch various movies and TV shows together for the entire day, depending on whichever theme the organisers had selected. For this meet up, they'd selected a theme that Dusk had been looking forwards to: Superheroes. Both Dusk and Flash knew what awaited them: Superman 1&2, Batman, Batman Returns, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Trilogy, The X-Men Movies, The Justice League Cartoon and countless DC and Marvel animated movies, to name a few.

There was a catch, however. The organisers said that for this specific meeting, those who wished to run up had to be cosplaying as a superhero/supervillain of their choice.

Once they'd heard this, Dusk and Flash had both looked at each other and simultaneously yelled out "BATMAN!"

Eventually, it came down to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, over who would go dressed as Batman. Luckily for Dusk, he won, with Flash having to settle for (who else?) the Flash.

In the days leading up, the two had been able to get a hold of their costumes. They were actually top-of-the-range costumes they managed to acquire, equivalent to those used in movies, with Dusk going for the modern Dark Knight costume.

They'd even managed to persuade some of their friends to turn up, with Plectrum going as Green Arrow and Kick going as Martian Manhunter.

However, as they were finishing their preparations for the day, Flash had had an idea.

"Hey, I was just thinking. How about we ask Twilight and her friends if they want to join us there?" He asked the others.

"Yeah, it's because you looooooooove her" Dusk replied cheekily.

"I am NOT in love with her! I'm just wondering if they want to spend some time with us".

"Yeah, yeah. Tell you what, I'll go ask them".

Dusk had then gone up to the rooms the girls were staying in and knocked on the doors.

"Ah, Mr Shredder. What's up?" Asked Rarity.

"Oh, nothing much. I just came here to ask you something".

"Sure. Go ahead".

"Well, there's a meet up happening in the Movie Room. Since the theme for what we're going to be watching is Superheroes, they're allowing anyone to turn up, providing they're wearing a superhero/supervillain costume. Flash was wondering if you six would like to go".

This caught the attention of Pinkie Pie.

"OOOH! I love Superheroes! We could go cosplaying as Catwoman or Wonder Woman or Hawkgirl or Rogue or..." She began, hyperactively.

"Is that a yes?"

The six nodded their heads.

"Sweet! In that case, I'll see you girls at the screening".

As they shut the doors, Dusk walked back downstairs to his room, chuckling and shaking his head.

He'd actually begun to really like Pinkie's hyperactiveness.

* * *

Finally, as the day came round, various different people, wearing various different costumes. Amongst them were "The Flash Sentry", "Green Plectrum" and "Martian Kickhunter". They were busy waiting for "Batshredder".

"Knowing him, he's probably struggling to get that damn suit on" Plectrum said to the others.

However, as they joked, they failed to notice a black shape slowly sneaking up behind them until it span Flash round and started shaking him by the shoulders, all whilst roaring "WHERE'S THE TRIGGER? WHERE IS IT? YOU'D NEVER GIVE IT TO AN ORDINARY CITIZEN! WHERE IS IT?"

"Hi Dusk" Flash replied once he'd stopped shaking him. "Looking good".

"Thanks. Alright then gentlemen, shall we?"

"Wait. What about the girls?"

"They said they'd meet us there".

The four pseudo members of the Justice League made their way to the Movie Room, with Dusk stopping to shake random others whilst screaming "WHERE IS IT?"

When the group of four finally made it to the Movie Room, they soon found the six girls, waiting for them to arrive. This time, the group consisted of "CatPinkie", "Wonder Rarity", "Super Dash", "Raven Sparkle", "HawkShy" and "Vixenjack".

"Well, you girls certainly look your parts". Flash told them.

"Why thanks" Rarity replied. "Admittedly, it did take a while to get my hair right for the occasion, but I've managed to successfully pull off the right Wonder Woman look".

Just then, the lights in the movie room began to slowly dim.

"Hey, you lot had better grab your seats, Batman Begins is about to start". One of the students, dressed as Captain America, said to them.

The group of ten then entered the Movie Room, grabbing a few packets of munchies and drinks. They then took their seats, all conveniently placed on the same row, with Dusk having the opportunity to sit next to Pinkie.

Then, for the next few hours, the group were glued to the screen, eagerly watching whatever came on. However, for Dusk his attention was on more than just the films. Every once in a while, he would find himself looking away from the screen and over at Pinkie. What really attracted his attention on Pinkie was, of course, the Catwoman costume she was wearing. For starters, he'd always had a thing for Catwoman. But the costume she was wearing wasn't just any Catwoman costume, it was a replica of his favourite version: the Arkham City Catwoman costume.

His heartbeat was beginning to increase from just looking at her amazing figure.

Then, during the screening for the Dark Knight Rises, he received a subtle hint from Pinkie that she might like him. During the finale, where Batman and Catwoman kissed, Dusk felt Pinkie shuffling closer to him.

"Stay calm, man" Dusk thought to himself. "You're Batman. You can handle stuff like this".

Finally, when Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox ended, everyone began to exit their seats, satisfied by their viewing experience.

"Well, was that good or what?" Dash asked the others.

"Good? It was absolutely Purrrrfect" Pinkie replied.

"You know, you play Catwoman all too well". Commented Twilight.

Just then, Dusk's mobile began to ring.

He answered it and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?...yes, this is Dusk Shredder speaking..."

His face lit up.

"Seriously?...Sweet! Thanks! I'll let them know!"

He hung up.

"So, what was that about?" Plectrum asked.

"Well, there's a local club called "The Flying Battleaxe", not too far from here who have been looking for band to play tomorrow night. Almost by chance, the club manager heard talk of our band from a few other college students. From I've been told, he also saw a video someone recorded of one of our practices and liked what he heard, so he wants us to perform there tomorrow night".

"You mean...We have a gig?"

"Absolutely! From 8pm to 10pm, they want us to perform a selection of our favourite rock/metal numbers".

"Sweet! We're in! We are so in!"

"Alright then. I'll let the guy know we'll be there. We need to be there at 7:30 to give us time to prepare.

"Oh, and expect us to be there as well". Rainbow Dash added. "We'll be eagerly awaiting your first proper concert".

* * *

For Tornado Lightning Poptart, the day of their first concert wouldn't come round soon enough. The four had spent the remaining time practising and practising to get themselves ready for the day.

Finally, the quartet arrived at The Flying Battleaxe with their equipment in tow.

The club manager, Shot O' Whisky, was waiting for them.

"Ah! There you are! I was starting to fear that you four wouldn't be turning up" he said to them, happily shaking their hands.

"Don't worry. We just had some minor difficulty getting our equipment here, but we're here now, so yeah".

As they were led inside, another band was on onstage, playing to the small groups of people already there. They were okay at best.

"Don't worry about audience size" Whisky assured them. "More will be turning up".

Whisky soon left the group backstage, where they were tuning their guitars to the right notes.

"Okay, you remember the songs we said we'd play?"

"Yep".

"That's good. Okay, who wants to be vocalist?"

"Ooh! Ohh! Me!"

"Okay then, Dusk is the vocalist and Rhythm guitarist for tonight's performance. Everyone ready?"

"READY!"

"Alright then. Be ready to blow everyone away".

Very soon, the band that was on before them wrapped up their set and left the stage, followed by a few sounds of clapping. This left Tornado Lightning Poptart with a few minutes until their set began.

As their set drew closer, Dusk peeked round the side and at the audience. It had grown considerably in size since when they were walking through them. Then, near the front, he spotted the six girls.

Pinkie Pie then noticed him and waved, giving him her traditional cheesy grin.

He then went back to the others.

"Alright. Let's light this candle" He said to the others.

Finally, when it was almost time for their performance to begin, the four went out on stage and got into their positions. The three guitarists plugged their guitars into their amps, whilst Kick sat at his drum kit. The crowd greeted this with a cheer.

when they were ready, they looked up at the clock on the wall.

7:59pm.

Close enough.

Dusk stepped up to his microphone.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen!" he called out to the crowd.

They greeted this with more cheering.

Dusk chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes. You guys are probably feeling pretty good at the moment. But I think you might just feel better once we get underway".

As the crowd cheered, Dusk couldn't help but smirk.

He then yelled out a little something the band had thought of.

"WE ARE TORNADO LIGHTNING POPTART AND WE'RE HERE TO KICK ASS AND CHEW BUBBLE GUM! AND WE'RE ALL OUT OF GUM! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

Then, the club started to come alive as the band began playing the intro to Metallica's "Ride the Lightning".

As the group successfully swung into the main riff, the crowd were getting pumped.

Dusk then stepped back up to the mic.

_"Guilty as charged"_

_"But damn it, it ain't right"_

_"There's someone else controlling me"_

_"Death in the air"_

_"Strapped in the electric chair"_

_"This can't be happening to me"_

_"Who made you god to say"_

_"I'll take your life from you?"_

_"Flash before my eyes"_

_"Now it's time to die"_

_"Burning in my brain"_

_"I can feel the flame"_

Now, the crowd were really beginning to get into the swing of things. The main problem with the last band was that they severely lacked energy and conviction in their performance. With this band, there was no such problem.

_"Wait for the sign"_

_"To flick the switch of death"_

_"It's the beginning of the end"_

_"Sweat, chilling cold"_

_"As I watch death unfold"_

_"Consciousness my only friend"_

_"My fingers grip with fear"_

_"What am I doing here?"_

_"Flash before my eyes"_

_"Now it's time to die"_

_"Burning in my brain"_

_"I can feel the flame"_

At this point the crowd was really starting to enjoy the performance. Near the front of the stage, a small mosh pit was slowly beginning to form, as the band carried on.

And guess who was in the middle of the mosh pit.

Directly in the middle, Pinkie Pie was giving off her own devil horns whilst simultaneously headbanging with the others in the most pit.

_"Someone help me"_

_"Oh please god, help me"_

_"They're trying to take it all away"_

_"I don't want to die"_

As the band reached the bridge of the song, the band members and the members of the mosh pit were all simultaneously headbanging for a short while.

But then, as Flash entered the guitar solo, their cheers almost brought the roof down.

More and more people were entering the club to see what all the noise was about.

Dusk couldn't help but look over at Flash and smile as the fastest part of the solo started. As he went mad on the strings, the mosh pit grew bigger.

Finally, the solo ended and the band went back to the regular riff of the song.

Dusk stepped back up to the mic.

_"Someone help me"_

_"Oh please God, help me"_

_"They're trying to take it all away"_

_"I don't want to die"_

As they reached the last part of the song, the moshpit very nearly took up about half the room, with Rainbow Dash joining in on the action.

_"Time moving slow"_

_"The minutes seem like hours"_

_"The final curtain call I see"_

_"How true is this?"_

_"Just get it over with"_

_"If this is true, just let it be"_

_"Wakened by horrid scream"_

_"Freed from this frightening dream"_

_"Flash before my eyes"_

_"Now it's time to die"_

_"Burning in my brain"_

_"I can feel the flame"_

Finally, as the band finished the high pitched outro of the song, the crowd released their loudest cheer. As they cheered and clapped, the atmosphere was buzzing with pure adrenaline and testosterone, with Pinkie pie going absolutely crazy near the front.

"WAHOOOOOOOOOOO!" she yelled. "AMAZING!"

Dusk gave her a happy thumbs up.

"Thank you!" He said to the audience as the band grabbed a quick drink of water.

"So, you like that one?"

The crowd cheered.

"Well then, if you like this one, maybe you'll like this next one. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!"

As the crowd cheered once again, Tornado Lightning Poptart played on.

* * *

Finally, at the end of their slot, the band began to get ready to head for the hills.

Before they did that, however, they gathered round the mic to give their thanks to the rambunctious crowd.

"Well you guys, we've had a great night." Kick said to them. "We'd love to continue playing tonight, but we're completely knackered. But don't worry, we'll probably be back. But anyway, we're had a great time here and I know you guys have, so thank you".

"Yeah. Thank you. Goodnight!" Plectrum added.

As the crowd continued cheering, the four then left the stage, carrying their equipment. They were tired and drenched in sweat, but they were satisfied by their night.

Backstage, it was high fives, fist bumps and bro hugs all round.

"Well guys, it might be our first gig, but we were amazing out there!" Flash said to the others.

"Yeah. This just makes me all the more excited for our next gig" Dusk replied.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. As they opened it, the six girls came through, ecstatic at the performance, with Pinkie Pie happily bouncing around.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She squealed. "THAT WAS AMAZING! I KNEW YOU GUYS WOULD BE GREAT OUT THERE, BUT THAT WAS UNBELIEVABLY, INCREDIBLY SPECTACULAR!"

"I'm easily going to agree with that" Twilight added. "We all really enjoyed your performance tonight. Hell, even Fluttershy took a liking to some of your power ballads".

"Well, thanks for being there tonight" Flash replied.

"No problem, y'all" Applejack replied.

As the six congratulated the band on their performance, Shot O' Whisky poked his head through the door. The Irishman couldn't look more deliriously happy if he tried.

"Well, you guys, thank you for turning out an amazing performance tonight" He said, happily shaking their hands. "You guys have to play here again, sometime".

"No problem, mate. Thanks for giving us this opportunity to begin with. Just give us a call and we can sort something out".

"Will do" he replied.

He then pulled out his wallet.

"I guess I'd better pay you guys for the great show. How much will it be?"

"Oh, it really doesn't matter." Plectrum replied. "We're just doing this for the music".

"How does $400 sound?"

The group looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"WHAT!?" The band asked, shocked.

"Yes. $400. I insist. It was that good, you deserve this much."

"You really don't need to pay us that much" Dusk replied.

"But I insist!" he replied, pulling out four $100 notes.

"Very well then. Thanks!" Dusk replied, taking the four notes and dividing them evenly amongst the others.

Kick shook his head in disbelief.

"Wow. What a night" he said to himself.

* * *

As the group of ten made their way back onto college campus, they were happily chatting about the great night they'd had.

Dusk, however, was giving Pinkie Pie a piggy back ride, running around and making aeroplane noises, with Pinkie laughing her head off.

"Thanks for the great night, you guys" Dusk said to the other band members. "See you in the morning".

The other band members all exchanged their goodbyes before heading off into their dorms.

Finally, Dusk reached the door to his dorm, where he set Pinkie down.

"Well, thanks for being there tonight" he said to the girls, giving Pinkie a hug.

"No problem. Thanks for putting on an amazing, super-spectacular show" Pinkie replied.

"Anytime" Dusk replied, grinning.

Then, for some reason, it felt like time had suddenly stopped as the two stared into each others eyes. They felt the emotions of each other. The euphoria of the great night they'd had, the feeling of friendship between them and...longing for each other? The two just stood there in silence, lost in each others eyes. It looked like they were about to kiss.

However, they were suddenly brought back to reality when Applejack tapped Pinkie on the shoulder.

"We'd better be hittin' the hay. It's late" she said to Dusk.

"oh, yeah. Thanks for turning up tonight. Goodnight!"

"Yeah. Goodnight"

As the six girls headed off upstairs, Dusk and Pinkie had one long, lingering look at each other, before Dusk slowly shut the door behind him.

As he did, he did a tired but happy pirouette before crashing onto his bed, gently placing his guitar next to him.

"Blimey, what a night!" He thought to himself.


End file.
